M.I.A.

So....I've been missing in action the past week or so. For this, I apologize. Being sick really threw me for a loop. After spending all day Saturday in Ogden I had to play catch up at home with my chores/other responsibilities. I have a lot on my plate right now and I'm getting really close to the end of my rope. Here's hoping things calm down before I blow a gasket or something along those lines.

I have so many random things to tell you that I think we'll do a little  Friday Things! :o) Enjoy!

• I keep trying to participate in the photo-a-day meme on Instagram, but I have failed miserably for the past three months. Maybe when life isn't trying to kill me....

• The year-end show for my company is in 3 short weeks. I'm excited to get things said and done for this year, I'm beyond burnt out with teaching and I am very much looking forward to not teaching this summer.

• The next two weeks should be pretty awesome. I have a three-day weekend (yay for Memorial Day! Paid Holiday! WOO HOO!!) then a three-day work week followed by another three-day weekend (yay day off!) so the next week or so should be GRAND.

• I get to spend all this weekend up in L* I'm rather stoked to spend the entire weekend chillaxin' with Soldier Boy + daughter.

• I got a new phone last weekend! Nothing super fancy - I'm still in the world of non-smart phones. But he's pretty cute and I'm a fan.

• Yesterday was just awful. I had a horrid dentist call me at work and yell at me. It was not fun times.

• Oh! I'm trying to find a cute craft to do for Soldier Boy for Father's Day. He's the best dad ever and I want him to know that. If you have ideas, please share! Pinterest only takes me so far....

• Pandora and I have  been really good friends as of late. I've got a shuffle of the 80s pop station, Today's Hits and Contemporary Country playing and oh man, oh man. GOOD STUFF y'all! I'm in love.

• My visiting teachers visited me earlier this week. I love visiting teaching. It always manages to lift my spirits.

• Today is a ridiculously busy day as I get ready for my long weekend not in O-town. It's okay, I can deal.

• I feel like I'm forgetting to tell you something. :P oh well....

 HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND EVERYONE!! :o) Party Hard!

Three Things....

Thing #1 -

My trip to California was SO magical. I LOVED Disneyland with all of my little girl heart. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself. It was grand. My friend Josh's fashion show was FANTASTIC. Here is a link to see his collection (set 1 and set 2). It's very high men's fashion...in fact there's a chunk of it I would never even consider putting on Soldier Boy, but that suit. oh man. I LOVE that suit. :o)

Thing #2 -

The Photo-A-Day meme was going so well for me....and then I went to California and didn't do it AT ALL. Seriously. AT ALL. And trying to make up 5, 6? days worth of pictures at this point? so not worth it. In fact, I'm trying to do other things for March right now that I think I'm just going to bag the month of March, call it good and do the month of April. (I am doing this for a Day Zero goal after all) Sound good? good. :o)

Thing #3 -

I have  the best Tender Mercy for you today! So...without further ado, Tender Mercy Tuesday 59th Edition

So last night Soldier Boy and I were reading scriptures together. We were in the Book of Mormon, specifically Mosiah 23 and 24

I was reading when I read verses 15 and 16 in Chapter 24 where it says:

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

 16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

 I loved that. First, I loved that the people did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. How hard must that have been? To be in the middle of so great a trial and yet to be willing to let the Lord be in control and to be HAPPY about it. and THEN verse sixteen then says that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord..[said]..on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage. So the Lord then blesses them for their faith AND patience.

I know the Lord always blesses us and that out of great trials come great blessings, but how often does he tell us WHEN the blessing will come and WHAT that blessing will be  for us? It's not very often. HOWEVER, I was comforted last night to know that it is POSSIBLE to be cheerful and patient in our trials and we will be blessed for it. It is not always the easiest thing to do, by any means, but it was comforting none-the-less. Trials always come. There's no way around them, they are the reason we are here on this earth - to be tried and tested and to come to an understanding before returning to live with our Father in Heaven. However, we're never given anything more than we can handle and we always have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost, a comforter, to be with us. How grateful I am for these facts. I don't think I'd be able to live through some of my current (or past) trials with out these blessings from my loving Heavenly Father.  He really does loves us and want us to be happy and for that I will eternally be grateful.

Have a great day everyone!

Photo-A-Day: a Sign

the construction. by my house. I hate it.

Photo-A-Day: Fork

lunch time. mmmmmm.....

Photo-A-Day: Someone You Talked To

my roommate. I talk to her all the time. LOVE her.

Photo-A-Day: LOUD

yup. favorite radio station. :o)

Photo-A-Day: RED

I love my red cell phone. :o)

a birthday hangover....

I'm just a little on the tired side of life this morning. I had the BEST birthday last night! It was utterly fantastic. Let's get onto Thursday Things and I'll share some details....and PICTURES!!

• Like I said, FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY party last night. It was just Sister B, her husband and Solider Boy. (plus me of course)

• Dinner was HOMEMADE by Soldier Boy and it was my favorite dish of all time - Chicken Cordon Bleu. mmmm...I have leftovers for lunch or dinner today and I'm rather excited about that. :o)

• I was kidnapped last night and then Roommate A helped Solider Boy out by decorating the apt...it was a princess themed birthday party. It was fantastic.  

• After the AMAZING dinner we played my new game (oh! I almost forgot! My sister had hid ALL of my presents in my apartment and I had to go looking for them...it was very creative. I loved it)

• One of my other presents was this adorable piggy bank: 

• isn't she cute? :o)

• After presents and games and dinner...we went to Trafalga (wearing my birthday crown!) and played a round of mini-golf. Fantastic fun right there.

• THEN it was time for cake. I LOVE cake. My sister made THE BEST cake EVER!

•  Seriously, is that not the CUTEST cake you have EVER seen? I loved it!! 

• Honestly, it was the BEST birthday ever! 

• Tonight I get my birthday jam at Blue Tango. I'm REALLY excited about this.

• Tomorrow is my day off and I get to play with my Truit.

• Saturday I'm going to dinner w/my friends and stuff. I'm excited for that.

• one week from today I'll be in Disneyland! :o) YAY DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!

• Pretty much, the next 10 days are going to be SUPER DUPER AWESOME!
•  
• Finally, today's photo-a-day prompt was: WINDOW. Here's my bedroom window looking out.... have a great day y'all!

On this day when you were born...

26 years ago, on this VERY day. I was born.

I love celebrating my birthday. (in case you hadn't noticed that... :o) )

I have no idea what is in store for tonight, but Solider Boy and Sister B have been communicating and have something up their sleeves. I just love surprises, so I'm excited to see what's going to happen...


ANYWHO. Today's Photo-A-Day prompt is : Something you wore. So here you go...my birthday outfit:

 I feel pretty! :o)

Anywho...I hope you all have a great day, I know I will....because it's my BIRTHDAY!!!! :o)

Photo-A-Day: 5pm

I never got around to posting my Tender Mercy Post for today. Sigh. I'm sorry. I really did try...

anywho. today's prompt was 5pm.

leaving the office, shutting down the computer, my phone telling me to go home. :o)

In other news, tomorrow is my birthday. :o) The end.

pssst....

Hey. you. yes, YOU. I want to remind you of something......it's almost my birthday. It's in 2 days in fact. I hope you're ready for it, you wouldn't want to forget about the most important day of the year now would you?

:o)

in other news, here's today's Photo of the Day!

that's my work computer...I love my backgrounds...and sticky notes that smile at me. :o)

Have a fantastic Monday all y'all!

Photo-A-Day: Bedside

this is my bedside table. It desperately needs to be cleaned off...

Photo-A-Day: My Neighborhood

my lovely neighborhood. I love it here. I will be moving this summer...don't want to sign a year contract....

Photo-A-Day + bonus footage

Hey guys. me again. Hope you're having a splendid Friday. My right contact is throwing a hissy fit, and my hamstrings are sore from dancing last night....but I'm a happy camper. So that's good.

Here's today's Photo-A-Day. The prompt? Fruit.

AND because I love you and because it's Friday....a few bonus pictures from my adventure to Barnes and Noble with Soldier Boy the other day. :o)

the books we read to each other...

pretending we're 5 yrs old...

this is our future house. :o) complete with weather tower, guns on the front and a courtyard in the back. :)

Happy Friday all y'all!!

Thursday Things + new things

Hey all y'all. Having a good week? I had one awfully, terrible day wedged between two amazingly wonderful days. I just love life and the roller coaster it sends me on on a weekly, er daily basis. :o)

Anywho, I have some Thursday Things for ya, followed by something new at the VERY end of this post. So...stick it out. ;) (or, ya know, just scroll to the bottom if you're just too excited to see this something new.)

• we've gotten some snow in the past couple of days. I really hope we don't have a crazy late winter that affects my spring. I love spring.

• dancing. LOVE it. I took a ballet class this week to help me release some emotional angst that I had and it was the best thing ever. I'm thinking I might need to go take class at Ballet West sometime soon.

• Soldier Boy is pretty much a rock star and I like him. the end.

• I get to go dancing at Blue Tango tonight - I'm excited for it, but I'm more excited for it next week because then I get my birthday jam. :o) SO STOKED.

• Speaking of my birthday, it is in SIX days. You should work on finding me a present.

• Disneyland is in TWO WEEKS. oh my goodness. I can't believe this is ACTUALLY HAPPENING guys. I've dreamed of this for ages. 

• Finally, I've decided to participate in the ever popular Photo A Day meme through Instagram. So...today's prompt was UP. Stay tuned for many a more Photos-A-Day to come your way! :-)

this is the view looking up in my kitchen. :o) Love my kitchen.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm looking forward to mine...mostly because once it's over it means I'll be closer to my birthday!!!! :o)